Criminal justice is the study of the structures, functions, and policies related to apprehending, persecuting, sentencing, and incarcerating individuals who have violated criminal laws. Criminal justice is a broad subject of legal and police studies that can be broken down into many concentrations including punishment and corrections, criminology, American court systems, juvenile crime, law enforcement, homeland security, among others. Although the study of criminal justice offers a variety of concentrated disciplines, criminal justice at its core involves the general examination of crime, justice, and criminal behavior. Additionally, basic criminal justice programs introduce students to the ethics of police work and the responsibilities of the American court systems.
Criminal justice courses are based on theoretical studies and do not require a significant amount of hands-on work so online courses are a viable option for learning more about this field. An online criminal justice course will introduce you to the principles of criminal law and the American justice system and provide you with a thorough understanding of criminal behaviors and punishments.
Online courses in criminal justice are helpful for learning the theories and principles behind police work and the judicial system. Students enrolled in these courses can anticipate learning about:
If you are interested in online courses in criminal justice, you may find the following list of open courseware helpful. Although free, these courses usually do not offer the benefit of interaction with a professor. The resources below consist of lecture-based courses, videos, exam outlines, and other materials that can help determine your interest in college criminal justice programs.
This criminal law online course, which requires a PDF viewer to access, covers legal concepts like contract law and malpractice in the veterinary profession. Originally taught as a single lecture on November 6, 2006, this course covers topics like the legal status of nonhuman animals and the difference between criminal and civil law. The information presented is designed for undergraduate students who have little criminal justice background, so you should be able to understand the lecture notes without any prior education.
Designed in 2009, this terrorism online course will teach you about the international institutions that shape and define the world, as well as the issues which they attempt to address. You will learn about a wide range of topics from global financial markets to climate change, terrorism and clashes over cultural values. This course is written for undergraduate students wanting a survey of the world, and requires no special technology or software other than an Internet browser.
If you're looking for something more creative or interesting than the typical criminal justice online course, Introduction to Peace Studies may be perfect for you. This open online class was originally recorded in spring 2007, and is a survey course with no prerequisites intended not only for criminal justice students, but anyone interested in the topics of war and peace on a global scale. Its lectures and readings broach such subjects as causes of political violence, the study of war and terrorism, terrorism after 9/11, and methods of peace such as non-violent resistance.
The involvement of government in key issues, public policy framing, and public policy outcomes are some of the topics explored through this free online course. This is an undergraduate course, so students need not have previous experience with the content to understand the lectures and readings presented. Originally offered in 2005, the content includes lectures, self-assessments, and readings, and requires no additional programs to access.
This graduate level course, originally published in 2005, discusses urban studies and planning policy from the perspective of rish management in natural and technological disasters, and the effects. Course topics include identifying how to ensure safety and promote equity amongst populations and how to stay familiar with the political and social dynamics in communities throughout the evolution and aftermath of a disaster. There are no prerequisites for this graduate level course.
This online undergraduate course, originally presented in 2005 by professors Daniel Weitzner, Harold Abelson and Michael M.J. Fischer, considers the interaction between law, policy, and technology as they relate to the evolving controversies over control of the Internet. In addition, there will be an in-depth exploration of privacy and the notion of transparency in the regulations and technologies that govern the use of information. Topics will include the legal background for regulation of the Internet; Fourth Amendment law and electronic surveillance; profiling, data mining, and the U.S. PATRIOT Act; technologies for anonymity and transparency; and the policy-aware Web.
This graduate course from Dr. Asir Ajmal deals with the application of psychology in legal and law-enforcement settings. Since forensic psychology is a new area for Pakistan, special attention is given to how its principles might specifically be applied in that country. The course introduces a wide range of topics, such as the role of psychologists in police recruitment, stress management, criminal profiling, the treatment of sex offenders, and reduction of violent behavior. The major emphasis of the course will be on hands-on treatment approaches for violence, and different personality theories regarding criminal behavior and sexual offenses. PSY101 is a prerequisite.
This criminal justice online course, originally published in 2003, provides an anthropological focused view of law as a social institution and as a feature of local cultures. The explorative nature of the topics include understanding social systems, legal reasoning, and how social change impacts legal forms. You will develop a point of view on how law can become a practical resource, a mechanism for handling a wide range of social issues and conflicst. This undergraduate level course does not require any prerequisites.
Published in 2009 by professor Fontina Christia, this graduate level course presents an overview of why warlords, terrorists and militia resort to violence. This case-study based course describes their motivations, tactics, and how to counter them. You will critically review the impact of these insurgents have and the way governments respond to violence. Apart from introducing the basic variables and theoretical and empirical findings in the literature, this course will also grapple with questions of definition, operationalization of variables, and general methodology relevant to conducting research in this area of violent conflict. The course will reference modern day battlefields of insurgents and terrorists.
MIT’s Noah Riskin, Professor Alex Slocum, and Aline Newton originally taught this undergraduate course in 2005. A joint DAPER/ME offering for both PE and academic credit, it uses the MIT gymnastics gym as a laboratory to explore Physical Intelligence as applied to Mechanical Engineering and design. Physical Intelligence is the inherent ability of the sensing, thinking, moving human body to function in accord with its physical environment. Readings, discussions, and experiential learning will introduce you to various dimensions of Physical Intelligence, which you’ll then apply to the design of innovative exercise equipment.